ULS Enhancements for the Tribal Land Bidding Credit Program

ULS Enhancements for the Tribal Land Bidding Credit Program

After completing the 601 Main Form, ULS will take an applicant to Schedule B which has been modified to include tribal land bidding credit information.

Intent Screen

General Information

When filing the original long-form application, an applicant is required to select the channel blocks to be included in the application filing. With the addition of the tribal land bidding credit, the applicant is also required to select the channel blocks where they intend to seek the bidding credit. For the tribal land bidding credit, the default answer is “NO”.

The intent to seek a tribal land bidding credit must be indicated prior to the close of the long-form filing window. Once the filing window is closed, applicants will not be permitted to amend their application to change their intent to seek a tribal land bidding credit from “NO” to “YES”.

If an applicant is seeking a tribal land bidding credit in some but not all markets, we recommend that the applicant file two applications; one application with only markets seeking a tribal land bidding credit and another application with markets not seeking the bidding credit.

The Example

In the above example, only markets BEA099 (channel block B), BEA118 (channel blocks J and K) and BEA163 (channel block L) are included in this long-form application. Of the three markets, BEA163 is not seeking a tribal land bidding credit. (Although this example mixes markets with and without tribal land bidding credits, we recommend that two separate applications be filed (see above.)

Note: In BEA118, there are two channel blocks (J & K) within the market. For the purpose of the tribal land bidding credit, the winning bidder is not required to seek a tribal land bidding credit for all channel blocks within the same market; the choice of channel blocks is the applicant’s. However, if more than one channel block within a market is selected, the same tribal lands must be served by all channel blocks (within the same market) seeking a tribal land bidding credit.

Auction Attachments Screen

Before proceeding with the application process, use the Attachments button to upload the specific Exhibits as outlined in the auction’s closing Public Notice. In this example, the ownership information is being submitted.

Click Continue to progress to the next screen.

Decision Screen

Once the Intent Screen has been completed, the applicant has two choices.

The first choice is to file the application without selecting the tribal lands to be served in the markets indicated on the Intent Screen AND without uploading the Tribal Government Certification(s). The applicant has 90 days after the close of the long-form filing window to provide this information by filing an amendment to the original application. Click Continue to proceed and submit the application.

The second choice is to select the tribal lands to be served in the markets indicated on the Intent Screen AND to submit the Tribal Government Certification(s). To do so, select the first market using the drop down box and click Edit Tribal Lands.

Note:

Applicants can not select the tribal lands to be served until they are prepared to upload the Tribal Government Certification(s).

If an applicant is seeking a tribal land bidding credit in multiple markets within the application, the tribal lands must be selected for all markets and all Tribal Government Certifications uploaded before the application can be submitted to the Commission.

Tribal Land Information Screen

General Information

For each market area, ULS will provide a list of all federally recognized tribal lands and the number of square kilometers of the land within the market. Once the tribal lands are selected, click Save and Calculate. ULS will calculate the bidding credit for the market area and enter it in the field entitled “Amount of bidding credit for this market”.

The “Name of Tribal Land” field indicated as “other” is used when a new tribal land has been added to the federally recognized tribal lands list and the Commission’s records have not yet been updated to reflect the change. The applicant must enter the tribal land name and the number of square kilometers of the tribal land within the specific market.

Use the Next Market button to continue to the next market seeking a tribal land bidding credit. Use the Previous Market button to access the previous market.

The Example

In market BEA099, the winning bidder intends to seek a tribal land bidding credit to serve the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. After selecting the tribal land and clicking Save and Calculate, ULS determined that the bidding credit for this market is $300,000 and entered the bidding credit amount into the appropriate box.

Tribal Land Information Screen

The Example

In market BEA118, the winning bidder indicated it will seek a tribal land bidding credit by serving the Omaha Reservation with channel blocks J and K. ULS has determined that the overall MARKET bidding credit is $32,500. Since the winning bidder is seeking a tribal land bidding credit using two channel blocks within the same market, ULS proportionately allocated the MARKET bidding credit between the two channel blocks based on the gross bid for each channel block.

Since the tribal lands have been selected for all markets seeking the bidding credit, use the Attachments button to upload the required Tribal Government Certifications.

Additional Bidding Credits

If an applicant is requesting an additional bidding credit, the applicant should enter the amount into the box entitled “Additional bidding credit requested for this market”. In the above example, if the applicant had requested an additional bidding credit, ULS would have proportionately allocated the additional amount requested between the two channel blocks as it did for the standard bidding credit.

If an applicant enters an additional bidding credit amount that exceeds the Commission’s cap, ULS will provide an error message and will not permit the applicant to request the additional amount as entered.

As outlined in the Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, adopted June 8, 2000, a request for an additional bidding credit must be accompanied by a waiver request demonstrating that the infrastructure costs exceed the available credit under the formula and it must include a certification by an independent auditor that the estimated costs are reasonable. [1]

Tribal Land Bidding Credit Attachments Screen

Before proceeding with the application process, the Tribal Government Certification(s), Attachment Type X, must be uploaded into ULS. In this example, the Certification is for BEA118, Omaha Reservation.

Once the Certification(s) has been uploaded, use the Continue button to preview your application and submit it to the FCC.

Note: If an additional tribal land bidding credit was requested, use Attachment Type Y, Tribal Lands Waiver Request, when uploading the waiver into ULS.

[1] Extending Wireless Telecommunications Services to Tribal lands, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, WT Docket No. 99-266, 15 FCC Rcd. 11,794 (rel. June 30, 2000).